Spartans Sweep Badgers For Fourth Straight Win

GAME CAPSULE

Michigan State swept visiting Wisconsin with a 5-2 victory on Saturday at Munn Ice Arena, on the strength of a 48-save performance from Drew DeRidder and a three-point night from sophomore Jeremy Davidson.

The Spartans have now won four straight games, sweeping a home-and-home with Ferris State last weekend and earning their first Big Ten sweep since 2019 this weekend over the Badgers. MSU scored twice in the first , saw the Badgers knot it up with a pair in the middle frame, and rallied for three goals in the final period to blow the game open.

Drew DeRidder made a season-best 48 saves, his second straight 40+-save effort and third of the season. Jeremy Davidson scored twice and added an assist for the Spartans (8-5-1, 3-3-0 B1G). Freshman Jesse Tucker had his first career goal and multiple-point outing, and four other Spartans had multiple points in the game.

Jared Moe made 25 saves for the Badgers (4-10-0, 2-6-0 B1G), who got second-period goals from Tarek Baker and Sam Stange.

The Spartans are idle during Thanksgiving week, and return to action Dec. 3-4 at Penn State.

STATISTICS OF NOTE

Jeremy Davidson had a pair of goals and an assist for his first career three-point night. He
Jesse Tucker scored his first career goal in the third period and added a pair of helpers for his first career multi-point game as well.
Drew DeRidder made a season-best 48 saves.

NOTABLES

MSU is riding its longest winning streak (four games) since the 2011-12 season. That year, MSU won five consecutive games with sweeps of Robert Morris and No. 5/6 Western Michigan, and a Friday win over Northern Michigan. (Oct. 28-Nov. 18)
MSU earned its first Big Ten sweep at Munn since sweeping the Badgers in December of 2019.
Drew DeRidder had his third (and second consecutive) game with 40 + saves. He made 22 first-period stops, two shy of his career best in a period. His 48 saves was four shy of his career best of 52, set vs. Wisconsin in February of 2019.
Mitchell Lewandowski had a goal and an assist, and has at least one point in each of his nine games this season (5-8—13). He had 14 points in 2020-21.
Cole Krygier, Nash Nienhuis, and Kristoff Papp each had a pair of assists in the game. Papp and Nienhuis each have surpassed their freshman year point totals through 14 games, and Krygier (2-3—5) is one shy of his career best.

GAME SYNOPSIS

FIRST PERIOD: MSU got on the board just over three minutes into the game, as the Spartans broke into the zone on a 2-on-1 rush. Davidson got it to Tucker, who carried it up the right side and dished to Lewandowski, who skated in and found the back of the net for his fifth of the season. At 12:41, the Spartans doubled their lead on the power play. Just seven seconds after a tripping call against the Badgers, Kristoff Papp won the faceoff back to Nienhuis at the left point, and he slid it across the blueline to Cesana. He faked a shot, then sniped his third goal of the season in to the top right corner over the stick hand of Moe

SECOND PERIOD: The Spartans took a pair of penalties back-to-back in the first five minutes of the second, and the Badgers scored goals just over four minutes apart to tie up the ballgame. Wisconsin got on the board at 4:15 with a power play goal from Tarek Baker , beating DeRidder short-side. At 8:29, Wisconsin capitalized on a turnover, and Sam Stange's shot from the right circle found its target to knot the game at 2-2. MSU was outshot 22-8 in the opening period, but things were much closer in the second – Wisconsin out-shot the Spartans 12-11.

THIRD PERIOD: Wisconsin gave the Spartans another early power play and as they did in the first, capitalized early in the man advantage. Jack Gorniak went off for boarding after a hit on Loughran at 2:09, and at 2:31 the goal light came alive when Davidson scored his sixth of the season, set up by Lewandowski and Papp – the second point of the night for all three. Just under three minutes later, Jesse Tucker put his first career goal into the back of the net, putting back a fat rebound off a Nash Nienhuis attempt from the right circle. Davidson capped the scoring with his second of the night at 11:18.

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Team Stats

Jeremy Davidson

Jesse Tucker

Mitchell Lewandowski

Cole Krygier

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Davidson

Drew DeRidder

Cole Krygier

Mitchell Lewandowski

Nash Nienhuis

Jesse Tucker

Players Mentioned

Jeremy Davidson

Drew DeRidder

Cole Krygier

Mitchell Lewandowski

Nash Nienhuis

Jesse Tucker